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Shooter Literary Magazine invites submissions of short fiction, non-fiction and poetry on the theme of “Dirty Money” for its summer 2018 issue.

Writers should submit stories, essays, reported narratives and poetry on anything to do with dough, whether rolling in it or scrounging for it. We want to read about playboys and girls, corrupt bankers, hard-up students, entrepreneurs, gamblers, thieves, grafters – anyone affected by money in any compelling way. Are riches really the root of all evil, or the key to the world’s delights?

Please visit https://shooterlitmag.com/submissions for guidelines; deadline is April 8th, 2018. Successful writers will hear from us within a few weeks of the deadline, if not before, and receive payment and a copy of the issue. Due to the volume of submissions we no longer send rejection emails.

The 2018 Shooter Short Story Competition is also now open, with a newly reduced entry fee for those wishing to submit more than one story. Find guidelines for entering the competition at https://shooterlitmag.com/competition.

Happy New Year from the editors of The A3 Review. We’re looking forward to another year of inspiration. There are still a couple more themes – Losing It and Brief Encounters – till we start putting together Issue 8 (The Gold Issue). For prompts and more details, click here to visit our Submittable page.

And already the work on Issue 9 has begun, too… the new themes for Issue 9 (The Circle Issue) are up on our Submittable page. Check out our monthly contests and send us your flash fiction, poetry and artwork inspired by thieves, guitars, wheels, and the moon. We hope you’ll enjoy the new prompts and that they’ll inspire you to try out new themes in your work.

Polish those 300-word short-short stories and take your chance. Become a part of this wonderful community of writers and storytellers. Take the chance of winning the prize! Give your story a chance to be recognised.

LISP judges are looking for strong and unique voices, check out the interviews with the judges on the website.

‘Originality must come from other resources: from one’s own voice, personality, character.’ Luis Pizarro, LISP judge.

‘Given that the story can only be 300 words, I am looking for something beyond the ephemeral, a story that will make an impression.’ James Kirchick, LISP judge.

‘LISP is based on creating a great community and, of course, all the writers who attend the competition will definitely be a part of this network. However, winners are winners, and they will have the greatest advantage. First of all, the prize and publication, and when you win a competition, it means that your pen has been recognised, which is a great feature for any writer. Not only while trying to reach agents or publishers, but also the personal satisfaction is priceless. Especially for young writers, it’s a way to build confidence.

As an award winner, I can also say that it helps you to improve. Now you see that you can write things that others appreciate as well, which encourages you to be even bolder.’ Ozge Gozturk, LISP founder.

Grab your hats, coats, shoes and socks and be sure to wipe your calendars clean for the evening of Friday 26th January 2018.

Why?

Because on that night ‘The Squat Pen Rests’ Short Story Spoken Word Event will be barrelling into the Wyvern Theatre, Swindon, with a freshly sharpened pencil clamped between its teeth, and brandishing a proper-fancy gaggle of fabulous stories for anyone brave enough to pitch up and listen.

Six super-fine short story writers will duke it out in front of a live audience to find out who will be crowned the very first ever ‘The Squat Pen Rests’ Writing Competition Champion of the World!

There will be prizes, live music, a bar, some occasional bawdiness and, of course, those six spoken word performers who will have travelled from far and wide (maybe even further) in pursuit of the Holy Grail that is ‘The Squat Pen Rests’ Writing Competition Champion of the World title.

‘The Squat Pen Rests’is actively seeking writer-performers. So, if you’d like to be in with a chance of performing your story on the night (and winning fifty smackers, to boot) then we’d love to hear from you. All you have to do is follow the link for further details. The Squat Pen Rests Writing Competition

And when does this glorious event take place, I hear you roar. Well, because you’ve roared so nicely, I’ll tell you.

The date is Friday 28th January 2018. Doors will open at 7.30pm and the readings will commence around 8pm. Closing time is ‘late’.

Reflex Fiction is a quarterly international flash fiction competition for stories between 180 and 360 words. We publish one story every day as we count down to the winner of each competition.

We had a fantastic response to our Winter ’17 competition: 250 entries from nineteen different countries. We’re busy reading and judging in preparation for announcing the long-list on January 1. In the meantime, the next round of the competition is now open for entries. We’re delighted to have Michelle Elvy, Assistant Editor, International, for theBest Small Fictionsseries, acting as judge. Here are the important details:

We are delighted to announce the winners of the 2017 Flash Fiction Competition.

The competition was judged by award winning writer Kit de Waal who says “Flash Fiction is the study of a moment in a much longer narrative. In a few hundred words, the writer must evoke character, place and setting”.

FIRST PLACE

Mam and She Worries by Douglas Bruton
“Mam worries ‘bout stuff. Smallest things sometimes. Like when Mrs Kinnear was having her baby and she was rushed to the daytime hospital and no-one had opened the curtains on Mrs Kinnear’s windows.”……

SECOND PLACE

Kala Pani by Neema Shah“There was a smidge of Radha in my pocket, a smattering of her on the cruddy wooden deck. I drew the string together and put the cotton bag in my pocket.”….

THIRD PLACE

The Replacement by Zoe Meager“One year ago, Anne received almost exactly what she wanted for Christmas. It was me. I first detected signs of unease in February. The sideways looks and locked doors.”…

RUNNERS UP

Soiled by Alex Reece AbbottThe Ties that Bind by Gina HeaddenHeavyweight Dreams by Louise MangosA Womb of One’s Own by Rosie CanningCheckout Girl by Shirley GoldenFragile by Shirley GoldenTo See a Star by Susan Carey

All the winning stories have been professionally recorded and broadcast as a special audio podcast on iTunes, SoundCloud, TuneIn and Stitcher internet radio and published as a download audio on The Casket website.